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New Stratholme
New Stratholme or simply "Stratholme" began its reconstruction in Year 28 following the successful overthrow of Scourgelord Aurius Rivendare by the Argent Crusade's forces under Commander Eligor Dawnbringer. At present, New Stratholme only consists of 35% of the space occupied by the original city. Nevertheless, it remains the largest city in the Stratholme Province and one of New Lordaeron's fastest growing urban centers. Early History Prior to the Troll Wars, Darrowmere Forest was considered a distant frontier to Arathi humans or a hostile wilderness to the Kingdom of Quel'thalas. After the Wars and the disintegration of the Amani Empire, it is speculated that trolls of the Firetree and Mossflayer tribes inhabited the region of Stratholme Province. By Year 2000 BAC, humans of the Arathi Empire were expanding across the continent of Lordaeron and Alteracean explorers are believed to have been the first humans to survey the Darrowmere Forest and gave the name "Stratos" to the mountain range near what would one day be called "Stratholme." One of the mountains seen to the city's west is still known as Mount Stratos. It is known that by the Kingdom of Lordaeron's founding in Year 1200 BAC there were numerous trading posts maintained by humans throughout the Darrowmere Forest and three were built on the future site of Stratholme. Archaeologists dated the earliest remains of the city to be from around 1000 BAC during which time the young nation of Lordaeron of was expanding into what was known as the "Eastern Provinces", a term used to describe the east of Thondroril River. Early ruins of city walls from Year 900 BAC highlight the emerging prosperity and importance of Stratholme. Official records from Lordaeron indicate that Stratholme was considered to be the eastern capital for the Kingdom. This notion continued until the coming of the Scourge in Year 20 AC with resulted in the Culling. Later History By Year 6 AC, the city would come to play a role in the Second War by linking themselves to the oil rigs in the North Sea and building oil refineries to supply the Alliance fleet with the fuel. Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer ordered elements of his clan to raid the city and hold the human garrison in check while the bulk of the Horde sought to raze Eversong Wood. However, after the Horde's defeat on the outskirts of Quel'Thalas between the allied humans and elves, the Blackrock raiders around Stratholme either rejoined their Warcheif or else fled into the Alterac Mountains. After the Second War, Stratholme's prosperity rivaled that of Capital City. Its wartime shipping and oil refining industries had brought them profit and respect from every corner of the continent. The famed "Crusader Square" and "Alonsus Chapel" became headquarters for the Order of the Silver Hand and pilgrimage sites. The infamous trial of Tirion Fordring took place in the Hall of Justice, one of several courts in which the members of the Alliance collectively passed judgment on those that had committed an offense against all the nations. The people of Stratholme saw little of the Third War as Prince Arthas massacred the city in order to prevent his people from transforming into the mindless zombie slaves of the Undead Scourge. The darkness that descended on Stratholme that day would last for eight years during which time the settlement was the de-facto capital for the Scourge in Lordaeron. The city was administered by th lich Kel'Thuzad and its vast garrison commanded by the traitorous death knight: Baron Rivendare. The Silver Day From an early point in the Lordaeron Temple Knight's history, the eyes were set on Stratholme---partally because the origins of the Temple Knight's was with the original ceremonial guards of the Temple of Light and partial because Stratholme was viewed as a symbol of Lordaeron's downfall. Shortly after the Temple Knight's arrival on the continent of Lordaeron in Year 26 AC, Commander Aulric Forsen (later known as Aulric Forsworn), led their forces in the Stratholme Raids in tandem with the Argent Dawn. During the First Winter of Year 28 AC, the Lordaeron Temple Knights were engaged in the Against the Lich King in Lordaeron. Their strength was drastically augmented by the Argent Crusade's Brotherhood of Light under Commander Eligor Dawnbringer from service in Northrend. With the Crusade behind them, the Temple Knights were able to press forward in their campaign to eliminate opposition within the Eastern Plaguelands. After weeks of planning, the Temple Knights under Commander Forsen arrived with allies from Stormwind: the Borderland Coalition. They arrived at the Argent Redoubt to finalize their plans for a multi-pronged assault upon Stratholme. The battle was considered to be a glorious rout of the Scourge forces---a brutal battle because of the lack of control Lord Aurius Rivendare had over the undead, many of them were "wild" and under no one's control---thereby they attacked the allied forces on sight with no care of tactical advantages or strength in numbers. By this point in the War Against the Lich King, the command hierarchy within Lordaeron had broken apart. Kel'Thuzad and Baron Rivendare had been killed in Northrend and Lord Aurius Rivendare was unable to maintain control of the undead without assistance from numerous lieutenants. The allies managed to defeat Rivendare within eight hours of attacking the city. The Argent Crusade left a garrison in Stratholme in order to eliminate the rest of the Scourge and put out the 'black magic' fueled fires while the allies moved to Tyr's Hand when they discovered that the Scarlet Crusaders in Stratholme had been transformed into the undead "Risen". Eventually, the story of the battle spread over the Eastern Kingdoms and multiple versions of it appeared. In allof the stories, the term "Silver Day" is used to describe the day of the battle. The New Stratholme Once the Scourge and Risen had been cleared from Stratholme, the Crusade began the tedious work of tearing down the old buildings and erected a fort on the north side of Lake Stratos. After the War against the Lich King ended and economically crippled people of Stormwind began to arrive in New Lordaeron, Stratholme was initally avoided until the Erek, Agan, and Jemson Galbarrow arrived with the might of their construction syndicate behind them. They were far more bold and began to actively restore Stratholme though they dubbed it "New Stratholme". For this, House Galbarrow was named as the governing house for the province and Lord Erek Galbarrow was named its first Borough-Lord. Many of the stone structures that had existed in old Stratholme remain, as do the foundations of most structures. The Galbarrows saw to the reinforcing of those foundations and construction over most of them. However, Stratholme's current population comes no where near its pre-war numbers; therefore, large sections of the old city are walled off and the public is prevented from entering them unless an actual expansion is being built and a new part of the city is being opened up. In Year 29 AC, Erek Galbarrow launched a bold campaign to transform the city into New Lordaeron's major port---attempting to outshine Tyr's Bay. Therefore, the old Refinery District was torn down and built into an improved harbor for Stratholme. Unfortunately, due to the port's position between Forsaken and Sin'dorei held waters, it tends to do more trade with ships from neutral factions. Geography and Climate Stratholme was built within an ancient caldera that had been formed when a volcaneo along the Northridge Mountains erupted, tearing a chunk of the mountain range along with it. The remains of the ancient volcaneo exist in the form of Mt. Stratos on the city's western side. To the south is Lake Stratos that is believed to be a part of the south rim of the caldera. Melting snows from the Northridge Mountain's southern slopes tends to flow into the Lake and several streams once carried water from there to the sea---however, the sewers of Stratholme have long since consumed those streams and Stratos' waters now wash the city clean on their way out to sea. On the northern side of the city is Stratholme Harbor, a deep water inlet on Lordaeron's northern rocky coast. The harbor is daunting for unskilled sailors, many ships been damaged while trying to dock. During the Second War, the harbor was so busy that sail-based propulsion was an extreme danger due to the high probability of colliding with other ship. Small steam-powered towships were used to pull ships into the harbor and back out. Winters in Stratholme are long and harsh. The city is often blanketed in snow for the greater part of Latter Winter and First Winter. Summer conditions are brief and mild due to cooling south blowing winds coming in from the sea. Demographics Due to the Galbarrow's connections to the Kingdom of Stormwind, they often called in workers from their homeland. These workers would often settle in New Lordaeron since the Galbarrows were able to offer steady work for them. The city is also known to be home to an assortment of people that once dwelt in Dalaran due to the presence of the Galbarrow Academy of Arcanistry. Additionally, the Cenarion Circle maintains an enclave on the outskirts of the settlement that they might continue to monitor the condition of the former "Plaguewood." Points of Interest *Galbarrow Academy of Arcanistry *Stratholme Harbor *Hall of Justice *Crusader Square *Bastion of the Silver Hand *Alonsus Chapel *Temple of Light *Ruins of Old Stratholme *The Electoral Palace Category:Places Category:New Lordaeron Category:Settlement